At the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles managed to win the only thing greater than gold, and she seems to have regained her happiness.
Biles was already the greatest gymnast in history, male or female, with seven Olympic medals (four gold) and 30 world championship medals. But at the Paris Games, she had another goal: to compete on her own terms and enjoy every moment.
And she did enjoy it — when it was announced early Tuesday that the U.S. women’s gymnastics team had won gold again, Biles literally jumped for joy. Then she sprinted across the arena carrying a giant American flag so she and teammates Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunny Lee and Hazley Rivera could pose for photos. (The team win put Biles ahead of Shannon Miller to take the crown as the most decorated American gymnast of all time.)
“We’re so excited,” Biles told Olympic media, speaking on behalf of the team after the medal ceremony. “We feel so proud to represent the United States every time we step on the world stage, but to get that gold medal and achieve that goal was an amazing feeling. I think we all had something to prove from Tokyo and tonight we did.”
Biles called these Games her “redemption tour” because the four athletes who competed at Tokyo 2020 — Curry, Chiles, Lee and her (Rivera, 16, is an Olympian) — have faced significant challenges since then, from injury and illness to struggles with skills and confidence. This team wasn’t just on a mission to beat that silver medal, it was also on a mission to make a statement about all they’d overcome.
Jordan Chiles, left, Hazel Rivera, Simone Biles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee celebrate winning the gold medal during the women's artistic gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympic Games on July 30.
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Biles has been open about her mental health journey since Tokyo, where she withdrew from the team finals due to a bout of twitching (a dangerous phenomenon in which a gymnast loses track of her body while in the air). The first two episodes of the Netflix documentary series “Simone Biles Rising” capture the behind-the-scenes drama of that moment, how Biles dealt with the aftermath and what it took for her to make that incredible comeback. Documentarian Katie Walsh has been filming the Olympic champion on and off for the past five years; Walsh and her crew were on the sidelines in Paris filming the second installment, which will be released this fall.
“Simone Biles Rising” is like three years of Biles’ diary, expressing her truth and reclaiming her voice,” diverse TV critic Aramide Tinubu wrote in her review:
“With the documentary, Biles and the audience are on a mission to examine what would happen if athletes were allowed to put their mental health on par with their physical health,” Tinubu adds. “You can’t silence the noise around you for long, but when you take ownership of the things you’ve been told to be ashamed of and trust yourself to live life on your own terms, that’s true freedom.”
There was a clear shift in Biles’ demeanor between the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. You can see the difference on her social media, for example. After the 2021 qualifying round, she posted on Instagram with the caption: “Preliminary [check] Now it's time to get ready for the finals. It wasn't the easiest day or my best, but I managed to get through it. I really feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. I know I'm shrugging it off and making it look like the pressure doesn't affect me, but sometimes it's just so hard! The Olympics are no joke!”
By contrast, after qualifying in Paris on Sunday, Biles simply wrote, “I’m grateful to be doing what I love.” Then, just before the finals began, Biles posted a TikTok video of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Where Them Girls At,” showing off her hair, nails, and bejeweled gymnastics suit reminiscent of the American flag (and the 1996 team uniform).
In the opening moments of Tuesday’s broadcast, Laurie Hernandez — Biles’ Rio 2016 teammate — praised the athlete for the steps she has taken, including undergoing treatment once a week. (Biles told reporters at Bercy Arena after the meet that she had a session Tuesday morning. “I felt calm and ready,” she said.) Hernandez noted that Biles, 27, is one of a growing number of gymnasts competing in their 20s.
“This is the oldest team the United States has had in a long time,” Hernandez said. “I think it's because athletes like Simone talk about mental health and how taking care of your mind and training smarter, not harder, is something you should do more often.”
In attendance were her parents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, and her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens (who negotiated a leave of absence from mandatory preseason training for the Chicago Bears so he could watch Biles compete in the Olympics). The crowd was also packed with celebrities including Michael Phelps and Serena Williams (the world’s best swimmers and tennis players, respectively); Oscar winners Spike Lee, Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman; Jason and Kayleigh Kelley; and “Today” show hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
Throughout Tuesday's competition, Biles wasn't perfect — she wobbled on the balance beam and went out of bounds twice during her high floor exercise — but she wasn't at all impressed, rolling her eyes at the latest mistake rather than beating herself up.
By the end of the match, it was clear that her comeback was complete and that a new, more joyful era in Biles’ career had begun. For example: Immediately after her U.S. gold medal win, NBC aired a live audio stream of Biles and Lee discussing what they would create on TikTok to celebrate. Watch the finished product below:
The 2024 team becomes the fourth group of American gymnasts to win Olympic gold, following the “Magnificent Seven” in 1996, the “Fierce Five” in 2012 and the “Final Five” in 2016 (of which Biles was a part). At the post-competition press conference [via Yahoo Sports]Olympic champion Aly Raisman was asked what her team nickname was. After some hesitation, Biles shared a shortened version of the NSFW answer: FAAFO, which stands for “F— around and find out.” (She later clarified that the name was an inside joke.)
During the press conference [per Time]Biles spoke about her experience with the U.S. national team, including her early years of training at the Karolyi Ranch where “no one really talked or laughed” during training. The prevailing belief was that having fun didn't lead to success.
“I felt like this wasn’t the way I do gymnastics,” Biles recalled. Thankfully, that culture has changed. “We show off our personalities and have fun, but we have to know that once we get on the court, we’ve put in the hard work and it shows. We don’t need to be put in a box anymore.”
Biles’s Olympics aren’t over yet. Next Thursday, she’ll compete in the all-around (a historic showdown between the last two champions, Li and He), as well as the vault, beam and floor exercise finals. That finale kicks off with the tune of Taylor Swift’s “…Are You Ready?” and it’s safe to say that Biles’ reputation as the best athlete of all time has been fully restored.
Team USA – Jordan Chiles, left, Sunisa Lee, Simone Biles, Hazel Rivera and Jade Carey – pose for a photo with their gold medals.
Naomi Baker/Getty Images
